Paul M. Wassarman

{{COI|date=October 2022}} '''Paul Michael Wassarman''' (born March 26, 1940) is an American biologist who has been a professor in the Dept. of Cell, Developmental, and Regenerative Biology at the [[Icahn School of Medicine]] at Mount Sinai since 1996 (chairman 2000-2007). His laboratory identified and characterised proteins that make up the [[zona pellucida]] (ZP) of mammalian eggs and determined their role in fertilisation.

==Education== He earned his B.S. and M.S. from the [[University of Massachusetts]], a Ph.D. in biochemistry from [[Brandeis University]] (1963–1967; Advisor, [[Nathan Kaplan|N.O.Kaplan]]), and was a postdoctoral fellow at the MRC [[Laboratory of Molecular Biology]], Cambridge, England (1967–1970; sponsor, [[John Kendrew|J.C.Kendrew]]).

==Career==

He was a faculty member in the Dept. of Biological Chemistry at [[Harvard Medical School]] (1972–1986) and in the Dept. of Cell and Developmental Biology at the [[Roche Institute of Molecular Biology]] (1986–1996; chairman 1987-1992) before joining the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

== Academic work ==

His main research contributions lie in the areas of mammalian oogenesis and fertilization, particularly on the structure and function of the egg's ZP. His laboratory identified and characterised proteins that make up the ZP,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bleil|first1=JD|last2=Wassarman|first2=PM|title=Structure and function of the zona pellucida: identification and characterization of the proteins of the mouse oocyte's zona pellucida|journal=Dev Biol|date=1980|volume=76|issue=1|pages=185–202|doi=10.1016/0012-1606(80)90371-1|pmid=7380091}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wassarman|first1=PM|title=Zona pellucida glycoproteins|journal=Annu Rev Biochem|date=1988|volume=57|pages=415–42|doi=10.1146/annurev.bi.57.070188.002215|pmid=3052278}}</ref> identified growing oocytes as the site of synthesis of ZP proteins,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bleil|first1=JD|last2=Wassarman|first2=PM|title=Synthesis of zona pellucida proteins by denuded and follicle-enclosed mouse oocytes during culture in vitro|journal=Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A|date=1980|volume=77|issue=2|pages=1029–33|doi=10.1073/pnas.77.2.1029|pmid=6928658|pmc=348417|bibcode=1980PNAS...77.1029B|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lira|first1=SA|last2=Kinloch|first2=RA|last3=Mortillo|first3=S|last4=Wassarman|first4=PM|title=An upstream region of the mouse ZP3 gene directs expression of firefly luciferase specifically to growing oocytes in transgenic mice|journal=Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A|date=1990|volume=87|issue=18|pages=7215–9|doi=10.1073/pnas.87.18.7215|pmid=2402504|pmc=54714|bibcode=1990PNAS...87.7215L|doi-access=free}}</ref> demonstrated that two ZP proteins serve as sperm receptors during fertilization and are inactive following fertilization,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bleil|first1=JD|last2=Wassarman|first2=PM|title=Mammalian sperm-egg interaction: identification of a glycoprotein in mouse egg zonae pellucidae possessing receptor activity for sperm|journal=Cell|date=1980|volume=20|issue=3|pages=873–82|doi=10.1016/0092-8674(80)90334-7|pmid=7418009|s2cid=29105880}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wassarman|first1=PM|last2=Bleil|first2=JD|last3=Florman|first3=HM|last4=Greve|first4=JM|last5=Roller|first5=RJM|last6=Salzmann|first6=GS|last7=Samuels|first7=FG|title=The mouse egg's receptor for sperm: what is it and how does it work?|journal=Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol|date=1985|volume=50|pages=11–9|doi=10.1101/sqb.1985.050.01.004|pmid=3006984}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bleil|first1=JD|last2=Greve| first2=JM|last3=Wassarman|first3=PM|title=Identification of a secondary sperm receptor in the mouse egg zona pellucida: role in maintenance of binding of acrosome-reacted sperm to eggs|journal=Dev Biol|date=1988|volume=128|issue=2|pages=376–85|doi=10.1016/0012-1606(88)90299-0|pmid=3396765}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wassarman|first1=PM|title=Mammalian fertilization: molecular aspects of gamete adhesion, exocytosis, and fusion|journal=Cell|date=1999|volume=96|issue=2|pages=175–83|doi=10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80558-9|pmid=9988213|s2cid=7115833|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wassarman|first1=PM|last2=Jovine|first2=L|last3=Litscher|first3=ES|title=A profile of fertilization in mammals|journal=Nat Cell Biol|date=2001|volume=3|issue=2|pages=E59–E64|doi=10.1038/35055178|pmid=11175768|s2cid=6172791}}</ref> identified regions of ZP polypeptides involved in ZP protein secretion and assembly,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jovine|first1=L|last2=Qi|first2=H|last3=Williams|first3=Z|last4=Litscher|first4=E|last5=Wassarman|first5=PM|title=The ZP domain is a conserved module for polymerization of extracellular proteins|journal=Nat Cell Biol|date=2002|volume=4|issue=6|pages=457–61|doi=10.1038/ncb802|pmid=12021773|s2cid=11575790}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jovine|first1=L|last2=Qi|first2=H|last3=Williams|first3=Z|last4=Litscher|first4=E|last5=Wassarman|first5=PM|title=A duplicated motif controls assembly of zona pellucida domain proteins|journal=Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A|date=2004|volume=101|issue=16|pages=5922–7|doi=10.1073/pnas.0401600101|pmid=15079052|pmc=395899|bibcode=2004PNAS..101.5922J|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jovine|first1=L|last2=Darie|first2=CC|last3=Litscher|first3=E|last4=Wassarman|first4=PM|title=Zona pellucida domain proteins|journal=Annu Rev Biochem|date=2005|volume=74|pages=83–114|doi=10.1146/annurev.biochem.74.082803.133039|pmid=15952882}}</ref> and proposed a structure for fibrils that constitute the ZP <ref>{{cite journal|last1=Greve|first1=JM|last2=Wassarman|first2=PM|title=Mouse egg extracellular coat is a matrix of interconnected filaments possessing a structural repeat|journal=J Mol Biol|date=1985|volume=181|issue=2|pages=253–64|doi=10.1016/0022-2836(85)90089-0|pmid=3845123}}</ref> <ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wassarman|first1=PM|title=Fertilization in mammals|journal=Sci Am|date=1988|volume=259|issue=6|pages=78–84|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican1288-78|pmid=2849808|bibcode=1988SciAm.259f..78W}}</ref> <ref>{{cite journal|last1=Litscher|first1=ES|last2=Wassarman|first2=PM|title=Zona Pellucida Proteins, Fibrils, and Matrix|journal=Annu Rev Biochem|date=2020|volume=89|pages=695–715|doi=10.1146/annurev-biochem-011520-105310|pmid=32569527|s2cid=219987743}}</ref>

He edited six volumes of ''Methods in Enzymology'' and five volumes of ''Current Topics in Developmental Biology'', was series editor of ''Advances in Developmental Biology/Biochemistry'', has been series editor of ''Current Topics in Developmental Biology'' since 2007, and authored "''A Guide to Zona Pellucida Domain Proteins''" (Wiley, 2015) and "''A Place in History: the Biography of John C. Kendrew''" (Oxford University Press, 2020).

==Awards and honors== He was an NIH predoctoral fellow, [[Helen Hay Whitney Foundation]] postdoctoral fellow, [[Rockefeller Foundation]] special research fellow, and Lillian and Henry M. Stratton Professorial Chair.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} He has been an advisor to NIH, NSF, ERC, NSC, WHO, Wellcome Trust, Schering AG, and Hoffmann-La Roche and delivered the Helen Mangelsdorph, M.C. Chang, James E. Leatham, Ernst Schering, Alan S. Parkes, and Luigi Mastroianni memorial lectures.

== References == {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wassarman, Paul M.}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American biologists]] [[Category:Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai faculty]] [[Category:Harvard Medical School faculty]] [[Category:University of Massachusetts alumni]] [[Category:Brandeis University alumni]] [[Category:1940 births]]